UH Mānoa Academy for Creative Media to premiere films at HIFF

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Academy for Creative Media will premiere its first Hawaiian language and its first animation films at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, October 23, at the 2009 Hawai‘i International Film Festival. The festival runs October 14-25 at the Dole Cannery Theatres.

“We’re proud of these films that reflect our mission to empower students to tell their own original and authentic stories of Hawai‘i, the Pacific and Asia, in the language and medium that expresses their creative core,” said Tom Brislin, ACM professor and chair. “We always tell our students: If we don’t tell our own stories, who will?”

“Live Tonight” by Kamakaniokaaina Paikai and “Lulu” by Brittany Itsuno, will be joined by five other ACM short films, including one co-produced in China with students from Shanghai University’s School of Film and Television. UHM is the only university with a program of U.S. and China student film co-productions, through ACM’s SMART (Student Media Art) Exchange.

“Jinxian Junction” is the second in a series of SMART Exchange productions, co-directed by Kevyn Fong of ACM, and Pan Huijia of Shanghai University. “Li Hing Mui, Lilikoi & Lychee,” by Lauren Cheape, was shot on Oahu with a mixed ACM-Shanghai University crew, and is also part of the festival program.